Access to unbarred media is fundamental to maintaining the integrity of a democratic country. Without independent media, the stream of information to voters is disrupted making people’s understanding of their political environment inaccurate. If the media organizations permitted to attend press briefings are limited to those that ideologically align with the president, the intentions of the potential authoritarians go unreported. This allows potential authoritarians to pursue undemocratic means.
On September 18th, Donald Trump announced that he was banning CNN, Politico and MS Now from the White House. According to Politico, Donald Trump defended his ban saying, “The White House is not instituting an assault on the Free Press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the FAKE NEWS, something that has grown like Cancer in our beloved United States of America.” Ozan Varol in Stealth Authoritarianism explains that a leader with authoritarian tendencies does not need to change the laws to get their way. A manipulation of laws and norms if sufficient. Varol uses the example of Libel Lawsuits during the Civil Rights Movement to intimidate the press, “Libel lawsuits can raise the costs of criticism by exposing the speaker to a costly libel lawsuit” which results in “self-censorship of critical commentary” which “curtails the public’s ability to effectively reward or punish incumbent behavior”(1693). Although Trump did not file a libel lawsuit against the news organizations, the broader theme of Varol is that the courts can be used to trip up the flow of information by occupying the news organizations with judicial obligations brought forth by who they are reporting on.
Time explains that after the banned news outlets were turned away, “Judge Kelly issued a temporary restraining order of 14 days against the ban.” There was no permanent reinstallation of the outlets, the temporary nature of the order is representative of the newness of American authoritarianism. The question becomes, is Trump going to try to restrict access again? Or will he be occupied with something else in 14 days? Time explains that instead of an appeal, “Trump could file for emergency relief from the D.C. court, similar to how CNN, MS NOW, and Politico did Thursday.” This shows us that although the courts authority is still respected, there are legal ways to enforce the ban after the 14 days has passed. Although the power balance between branches seems to still be sovereign, the intention of banning the press and forcing them to go through the judicial process to exercise their rights is concerning.
Trump has successfully put a hurdle in the way of independent media. In a healthy democracy, the comparison of opinion is essential to maintaining one’s ability to critically digest information. Regardless of political party, constantly being exposed to only one perspective is degrading to one’s ability to critically think. After a prolonged period of exposure to one side, the other side seems impossible to accept.
It’s also important to think about the greater environment in which this is happening. Civic engagement is decreasing, people are less engaged with their peers and the insecurities caused by Trump’s administration are weighing heavy on all. As people become more isolated, a free press is essential. When someone is isolated and consuming one sided media, they are likely to lose touch with the fundamentals of our country.
Donald Trump’s press ban is also a test of his personal power. Huq, Aziz & Tom Ginsburg in How to Lose a Constitutional Democracy say “Bureaucracies are thus institutionally pivotal barriers to the misuse of state power”(128). Perhaps it’s reassuring that Trump’s ban was successfully contested by the news outlets. This indicates that America is still at a point in which power is flowing through multiple branches of the government. But, it should be concerning that it was brought as far as it was. It’s important to question how complacent other white house officials were in enforcing the ban initially.
Trump pets the cat against the direction in which its hair grows, leaving the cat matted and angry. The court is petting it in the direction of growth, correcting the mishandling of the cat. The cat becomes agitated, inconsolable and weak. The back and forth testing of the president’s power becomes so fatiguing to the system that it eventually breaks down. It’s not that Trump thinks his executive orders will immediately become the law, he wants to aggravate the system in hopes that it will eventually cave.